Revelation 3: 14-21 Comment: The name Laodicea means ; “The power of the Laity.” It looks like the power of the congregation was influencing the Pastor away from God? Or the Pastor and the congregation just had the same problem! They were lukewarm towards God! Neither hot or cold! Instead of this church influencing the world the world was influencing the church! Not a new problem as we view the 21st Century church! The city of Laodicea was at the center of the Banking finances! It also had a famous Medical College there! It was famous for it’s eye salve! It was famous for black wool! Of the seven churches this church may have been the black sheep of the family? The city had a lot of money! The city water supply had to travel through many miles of aqueducts to get to the people! The water was known for being dirty and lukewarm! From Paul’s Epistle at Colossians there was a connection between these two churches. A certain Archippus was probably the Pastor at Laodicea. Paul’s message to this Pastor was to take heed to the ministry you have received from the Lord and fulfill it! That is to execute it! The Pastor is the Executive Branch of the Church in God’s Kingdom! This church had no works! No evidence of Salvation? One sign of deadness is to think there is nothing wrong with me! If a fire were put under your feet and you did not feel it you are probably dead! No line of demarcation between the church and the world! The world and the church looked the same? No borders! No country! No Kingdom! The cares of this life will choke out the Word of God! This congregation most likely left Jesus at the church when they went home! Told Jesus to stay there until they got back next Sunday! We are to be zealous for God! Grasp and run with the truth! Everything we need is in Christ! Do not let feelings dominate the facts and your faith! Feelings will never save you!Jesus said the cure for being in love with the world is to repent! Repentance requires a clear vision of our fallen condition! Begin a new page and a fresh start! This lukewarm condition needed to be put in a pan over the fire and the impurities boiled out! They needed a Baptism! Old things are passed away and all things become new! Jesus said we must be, “Born Again.” We may need to be born again more than once in our Spiritual walk! If the world is creeping into our shell we must evict him and escape the old life! We must not look back! Walking close to the Savior!Looking ahead! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Month: January 2019
Atheism & Lies!
The more we know the fixed laws of nature the more incredible do miracles become, but the men at the time were ignorant and credulous to a degree almost incomprehensible by us, that the Gospels cannot be proved to have been written simultaneously with the events, that they differ in many important details far too important as it seemed to me to be admitted as the usual inaccuracies of eye witnesses; by such reflections as these… I gradually can disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation. Charles Darwin. Comment: An eye witness carries the most credence in a court of law than any other evidence! Especially when more than one eye witness confirms the same facts! Darwin was not there in 1st Century Israel so we have the historical record and nothing else to confirm anything in past history! Science today shows us much more about this earth than in the day of Darwin! More and more new science today refutes his Theory of Evolution! The Genesis 1:1 Model of Creation is confirmed by science that all the earth and the planets in our galaxy are all the same age! No evolution yet the same old lies are taught to children in our public schools! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Feminist & Death of Marriage!
The radical feminist’s have had their way but here are some interesting statistics about the children of single family mom’s! 80 percent of homeless and run away children, 61 percent of prisoners, 63 percent of suicides, 70 percent of teenage pregnancies and 71 percent of drug use or substance abuse come from through the children of single family mom’s! These children have an absentee father which leads to destruction of their children! Is it any wonder the left has a new emphasis to increase abortions across America to cover their first sin of rejecting God’s plan for a family to consist of a man and a woman joined together in marriage! God’s plan is the best plan and any rejection of his plan leads to a social break down of any culture! Some mom’s are doing a fantastic job under the most challenging circumstances! My hat off to you but it does not have to be this way and God never planned or intended for a mother to raise her children without the love and support of a husband! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Church at Philadelphia (Continued)
Revelation 3:12 Comment: The soul’s of the redeemed shall be part of the Temple of God in Heaven! On earth we as believer’s are the Temple of the Living God! God is our dwelling place! The Holy Spirit is our promise of redemption! A pillar is fixed, unshakeable and permanent! Names were inscribed in the pillars of antiquity! Pillars are still standing in the City of Philadelphia today even after many earthquakes! The name of God the Heavenly Jerusalem! The allusion here is the golden frontlet with the name of Jehovah inscribed on the breastplate of the High Priest! We will bear the token of Heavenly citizenship! No illegal’s here! We all had to come through the Blood of the Lamb! Christ! Scripture refuses to recognize any finality confined to a beginning or an end! Christ’s promise to us for faithfulness is not from but strength in and through the conflict! The Christian life is always a battle between good and evil. So what do we overcome to receive the reward? Is it abortion, drugs, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, atheism, Darwinism, socialism, communism, idoltry, adultery, gambling, robbery, theft, rape, murder, illegal immigrants, fascism, liars, fraud, assault, death, hell or the grave? We overcome the sin which is the foundation for all evil by what God has already done for us! Christ defeated sin for us at Calvary! If we confess our sin he is faithful to forgive our sin! If we reject Christ then we will trust ourselves and sin will continue! Overcoming is the product of redemption! We no longer need to go out from the Temple in Heaven because there is no need for Evangelism! We remain in Heaven stable, uninterrupted in communion with God! The writing of our name implies ownership! Complete visibility! Like your name written on a Deed of Trust! Is your name written down in the Book of Life? How do we possess one another? How do we belong to God? How does a Spirit possess a Spirit? By love! For God so loved the world……….. Through self surrender and practical obedience! Just as a man writes his name in a book or brands his cow on the farm so on the redeemed is written the name of God! Satan has branded his own! During the Tribulation period they have to take the Mark of the Beast! 666! All of us are destined for one of two places! Heaven or Hell! Yet we decide which place! Who will mark you? Will it be sin or redemption? The mark of redemption is the piercing of his hands and side! To reject Christ is to take the Mark of the Beast! Death without redemption! Who will you follow? Heaven is a place! Jesus said I go to prepare a place for you! Heaven is a city! Heaven is a country! Hell is also a city, place and country! We all will reside in one of these two places! Remember the rich man and Lazarus! There is a great border wall between Heaven and Hell. No one can cross these borders! These borders are forever sealed! If you belong to Hell you cannot claim asylum to Heaven! If you are living like the Devil you are oppressing and are also oppressed! Your citizens in Hell are just like you! You deserve each other! Citizens in Heaven are just like all other citizens! Righteous and Holy! Not by their own works but are forgiven sinners! The sinners in Hell are unforgiven sinners! Which are you? James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Are Politics Important?
Acquire a government over your ideas, that they may come down when they are called, and depart when they are bidden! Isaac Watts (1674-1748), English politician, theologian and logician. He wrote 750 Christian Hymns.
Church at Philadelphia (Continued)
Revelation 3:10 Greek Translation “Because thou has kept my spoken word of my patience with endurance towards people not surrendering to circumstances, I also will keep you from the time and season of Satan trying to test you to fall, which shall come to the inhabitants of the earth trying and testing them to fail.” Comment: Volumes could be written on this one verse! In fact the Book of Revelation is a compilation of all scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments put together! Remember the Word of God as recorded in your Bible was first spoken before it was written down! Remember his spoken word created this world! The power of God comes from taking his written word and then speaking it! That is why in our Constitution so much value was placed on free speech! Satan will always work through any culture to suppress free speech! Political correctness in our culture is one example! It is designed to suppress free speech! Don’t wear your religion on your sleeve! In other words shut up! Do not take Jesus to the public places! Keep him in your own little corner in church on Sunday! Jesus said to go out into all the world and preach the Gospel! There will always be an effort by Satan to silence the truth! To silence you! Notice what speaking the words of Jesus did for the Church at Philadelphia! It brought them endurance and patience towards people not surrendering to circumstances! Jesus said to them that since you have spoken the Word of God I will keep you from the wicked one Satan who wants to test you and cause you to fall! I will protect you from the second death or denial of me because you have chosen me! A rapture will come to everyone! Some to everlasting life and some to everlasting judgment! The coming future event of the rapture of his church from the earth will protect us from the seven year tribulation period led by the Anti-Christ! The greatest destruction in all the earth will happen during this period in history before Christ’s second coming! If you will confess the spoken word of God Jesus will come to you! He will rescue you! What will the tribulation prove? That Satan is real and evil! That God is true and righteous! That God’s word is accurate and the prophecies are true! That Salvation and judgment are a reality! That if you confess the Word of God with your mouth redemption and power will follow you all the days of your life! With your mouth you will either confess your way to Heaven or confess your way to Hell! Your confession is your destiny! Jesus said if you will confess your sin I will forgive you and I will confess your name to my Father in Heaven! The Church at Philadelphia understood this! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Church at Philadelphia (Continued)
Revelation 3:9 Comment: If you wanted to join an evil church you would stop by the one with the sign out front the read; “The Synagogue of Satan.” However Satan is much more masked than this! His Anti-God or Anti-Christ ideology will be carried out in the political, social, economic and religious systems of any culture! Why was Jesus upset with the Jews here in verse nine? Jesus himself is a Jew! All of Jesus disciples were Jews! The Jews are called the apple of God’s eye yet the Jews gave God a black eye! Why? They rejected their Messiah! The foundation of the rejection of God in any culture is the rejection of Jesus Christ! Remember the Anti-Christ will be a Jew! He will be gay! No natural affection for women! During the future 7 year tribulation period in history the Anti-Christ will rule the world from Jerusalem! The Temple will be rebuilt! The church will have been raptured at this time. During this seven year tribulation period just before Christ’s second coming God will raise up 144000 Jewish evangelists! More Jews will come to Christ during this time than any time in history! The rapture of the church will awaken them! Today here in American atheism is the core ideology to the rejection of Jesus Christ! This foundation has been developed by atheistic Jews! It began with Charles Darwin! His ideology was embraced by Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini and many more! Darwinism or evolution is taught to our children in Public schools! Christ has been thrown out! Socialism and communism has it’s core ideology in Darwinism! Darwin was able to twist science to fit his Godless ideology! The political divide in America is a divide between Christianity and atheism! The political left embraces atheism and the right endorses Christianity! One half the Jews in America vote Republican! They are orthodox Jews! The other half vote Democrat and they are atheists! The disaster of socialism is promoted by the left! Abortion is promoted by the left! Open borders is promoted by the left! Sanctuary cities is promoted by the left! The one world government is promoted by the socialists and the political left! So the Book of Revelation rings true in the 21st Century even though these words were uttered from the lips of Jesus in the 1st Century! Jesus words are prophetic and history verifies this! The 21st Century Church needs to look at these prophetic words from the perspective of the Gospel and the times that we live in today! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Church at Philadelphia (Continued)
Revelation 3:8 Greek translation: “I know your works and labor enjoined by you in spreading the Gospel to build my Church! I have opened a door of evangelism for you that no man can shut. You have a small strength yet you have kept speaking my intelligent words and have not denied and taken away my name which describes my character.” Comment: The 21st Century Church faces the same challenges the 1st Century Church did! We have the same God and the same Devil! Nothing has changed! People today like then will either follow God or the Devil! The Catholic High School in Kentucky got a taste of the Devil right in our own National capital! The political left controlled media through a lie to shame them and the Christ they follow! They tried to frame these children into looking like bad characters and attacking their faith! They did the same with Judge Kavanagh! To defame Jesus and try to get them to deny their faith in God! However Christ told the Church at Philadelphia and to us today that I have opened a door for you that no man can shut! The church was commended by Jesus for not denying his name! The 21 Coptic Christian’s that were beheaded about 3 years ago by their Muslim captors did not deny the name of Christ! Satan wanted to defame these children to defame the name of God! What the devil misses is that we are only saved by the name of Jesus! None of us are perfect yet Christ has made us perfect by his sacrifice on the Cross before God! Forgiven sinners! Unforgiven sinners have no hope! Jesus has taken our sin upon himself! That is why I will never deny his name! Children are the pawns of the left and abortion is their biggest game to deny God and sanctity of life itself! When God has no value in any culture then life has no value! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Church at Philadelphia! Revelation 3:7
Historical Background: This city was founded by King of Pergamum around 190 B.C. This King had a nickname Philadephus or brother lover! This King had a special devotion to his brother Eumenes II. Comment: So what is meant by the Key of David? It is found both in the Book of Revelation and Isaiah! It means to have control over or authority! King David had control and authority over Jerusalem and Israel. Jesus is the descendent of David and is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant! Jesus has been given the keys to Heaven, Hell and the grave! He has complete authority over God’s Creation! Christ has authority over life and death! Remember in Revelation 1:18, Jesus said he has the keys of death! Jesus was raised from the dead! Jesus also raised mortals from the dead and has promised his followers the same rewards! What door Jesus closes no man can open! What door Jesus opens no man can close! Some people may try but will never succeed! What God has for you and his promises to you are sure and forever! This is the introduction Jesus has given of himself to the Church at Philadelphia! It is the same introduction Jesus gives to you and me in the 21st Century because he is the same yesterday, today and forever! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Power in the Name! (Continued)
Revelation 3:1-6 Comment: Sardis was the richest city in the area of Asia Minor! A major trade route, gold found in it’s river and the Sardis precious stones mined in the region! A beautiful climate with no threats to the residents and protected by the Roman Empire! The Sardis gem is a blood red colored stone. Remember the High Priest breastplate contained 12 stones each representing the 12 tribes of Israel. The Sardis stone represented the tribe of Benjamin the youngest son of Jacob. It is one of the stones in one of the twelve gates in the walls around the temple in Heaven. The city had an interesting history! Conquered by the Greeks, Persians and the Romans and was leveled by a great earthquake! The affluence of the city brought an attitude among the Christian’s there that they did not really need God! We can make it own our own! Jesus told them they had defiled their garments! Jesus told them they must overcome or their names would be blotted out of the Book of Life! Jesus said if they overcome their condition he would confess their names to the Father! The red Sardis stone should have reminded them of Christ’s blood! The blood moon we saw in the sky last night should have reminded us of his blood! The red color in the rainbow in the sky reminds us of his blood! The Apostle John in Chapter 4 had a vision of Heaven and he saw a rainbow around the Throne of God! Christ’s blood should remind us of two things! Salvation and judgment! It is two sides of the same coin! Salvation or redemption means nothing without judgment! You will have judgment only with out Salvation but you cannot have salvation without judgment! Christ took our judgment upon himself at the Cross! The rejection of Salvation is serious because if you reject the Savior then you take your own judgment and separation from God forever! That is why the only unpardonable sin is to reject Jesus Christ! If you reject Christ as many did at the Church at Sardis then he Christ becomes your judge! Christ’s blood is the blood of God himself made as the only sacrifice for sin! It is costly! I as a mortal might give my life for a friend or my nation but for the whole world? They do not deserve it! Neither do I! By Grace you are saved not of yourselves! Most of the members in the Sardis church fell in love with the world! They were like the fly in the spider’s net! They looked like a Christian but they were dead and hollow inside! The life of Christ had been sucked out of them by the cares of this life! None of us want the form of Godliness but to deny his power! The church was deceived into believing the world could offer them more than Christ! I could lay down my life for Christ yet it would redeem no one! His blood is more precious than silver and more costly than gold! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com